Full Fact - The UK’s independent fact checking charity

EU Referendum Voting Guide: Stronger In on trade

20th May 2016

Claim

More trade for business — 200,000 UK businesses trade with EU countries and it's home to almost half our exports

Conclusion

HMRC estimated in 2012 that over 200,000 VAT-registered UK businesses trade with other EU countries. 44% of the UK’s exports went to other EU countries in 2014 — this share has been declining since the 2000s.

It said that the number “may be significantly higher” once businesses trading in services were added, but didn’t have data on this.

About 44% of UK exports in goods and services went to other countries in the EU in 2014. Thisshare has been declining since the 2000s, as exports to other countries have been increasing at a faster rate.

It’s sometimes argued that these statistics overstate the proportion of UK exports that go to the EU, as a lot of goods pass through ports like Rotterdam before being shipped to a final destination outside the EU.

It’s not clear what would happen to this trade if the UK votes to leave the EU. If the UK leaves the EU, the future rules on trade would depend on what kind of agreement, if any, the UK reaches with the EU after its departure.

Update 8 June 2016

We added that the share of UK exports to other EU countries has been declining "since the 2000s", to make it clear when the share started to decline.

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